The Foxhole Victory Tour by Amy Lynn Green

Vibrant and scrappy Maggie McCleod tried not to get fired from her wartime orchestra, but she can't keep from speaking her mind, so an overseas adventure with the USO's camp show seems like the perfect fresh start. Wealthy and elegant Catherine Duquette signs with the USO to leave behind her restrictive life of privilege and to find out what happened to the handsome pilot whose letters mysteriously stopped arriving. The two women are joined by an eclectic group of performers--a scheming blues singer, a veteran tap dancer, and a brooding magician--but the harmony among their troupe is shattered when their tour manager announces he will soon recommend one of them for a new job in the Hollywood spotlight. Each of the five members has a reason to want the contract, and they'll do whatever is necessary to get it. As their troupe travels closer to combat in Tunisia, personal crises and wartime dangers only intensify, until not only their careers but also their lives are on the line. 

I liked the focus of the book; there are a lot of WWII stories out there, but very few take place in the North African campaign and even fewer focus on the entertainment industry's part in promoting morale. I knew celebrities did tours, but I hadn't known about the smaller not famous groups that toured around, often in harsher and more dangerous conditions than their more famous counterparts to reach even the farthest troops.

The focus of this story is on two specific women of the troupe--arguably opposites outside of their love of music. But it's easy to see echoes of the two main characters in each of the other members of the troupe too: each has something to prove--either to themselves or others. Each took a step of faith by joining; each one has a secret holding them back.

For all that my personality is much more similar to Catherine's, I definitely connected more with Maggie, especially her struggle with loving music but not being able to articulate its value outside religious context; I think it's something many believing artists struggle with. 

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

"The Blackout Book Club" by Amy Lynn Green

An impulsive promise to her brother before he goes off to the European Front puts Avis Montgomery in the unlikely position of head librarian in small-town Maine. Though she has never been much of a reader, when wartime needs threaten to close the library, she invents a book club to keep its doors open. The women she convinces to attend the first meeting couldn't be more different--a wealthy spinster determined to aid the war effort, an exhausted mother looking for a fresh start, and a determined young war worker. At first, the struggles of the home front are all the club members have in common, but over time, the books they choose become more than an escape from the hardships of life and the fear of the U-boat battles that rage just past their shores. As the women face personal challenges and band together in the face of danger, they find they share more in common with each other than they think. But when their growing friendships are tested by secrets of the past and present, they must decide whether depending on each other is worth the cost.

I highly enjoyed the fact that out of the first four members of the Blackout Book Club, only one person really likes books. Avis is just trying to keep the library open for the sake of her brother (and only reads magazines if she can help it), Louise attends out of a sense of obligation as reluctant library owner (not that Louise dislikes all books, just anything fictional outside of Wooster & Jeeves), and Ginny mostly wants the free food. Only Martina, the single-parent-working-mother immigrant, legitimately loves reading. And the only person mentioned to love Pride & Prejudice is Louise's crotchety, deceased father. I just really appreciate how the love of books is turned on its head in this story. And yet it still is a celebration of books, be it mystery, nonfiction, comedy, poetry, or even picture books. And the stories within the books help them process life better: Martina uses one of the books to help explain the truth to her children about their father, while another book forces Louise to confront her buried past.

I do love learning new facts through historical fiction. Of course, I've heard all about the blackouts in Britain to protect against air raids. But I'd had no idea that the blackouts on the East Coast were not so much for safety of the cities, but rather for the ships that were illuminated by the lights on shore and thus easy targets for the German subs. 

I generally prefer books with only one or two main characters (as opposed to four), but I can see how a book about the strength of community is more powerful from multiple viewpoints. The minutes from the meetings were my favorite parts.

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book. I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.

"The Lines Between Us" by Amy Lynn Green

Since the attack on Pearl Harbor, Gordon Hooper and his buddy Jack Armitage have done “work of national importance” in the West as conscientious objectors: volunteering as smokejumpers, parachuting into and fighting raging wildfires. But the number of winter blazes they’re called to in early 1945 seems suspiciously high, and when an accident leaves Jack badly injured, Gordon realizes the facts don’t add up. A member of the Women’s Army Corps, Dorie Armitage has long been ashamed of her brother’s pacificism, but she's shocked by news of his accident. Determined to find out why he was harmed, she arrives at the national forest under the guise of conducting an army report...and finds herself forced to work with Gordon. He believes it’s wrong to lie; she’s willing to do whatever it takes so justice will be done. As they search for clues, Gordon and Dorie must wrestle with their convictions about war and peace and decide what to do with the shocking secrets they discover.

I love learning new bits of history, and this book has a plot hinged on a fascinating aspect of WWII homefront danger that I'd never heard of before (and won't share, for spoiler reasons). 

For all that the story begins with Dorie and Gordon's brief love affair via letters, it isn't a romance--just a journey to restored friendship, which I think works better; those two would have a lot of points of contention in fundamental areas, which would make marriage a challenge. I wasn't too keen on Dorie at first--despite her convictions in supporting the war so far as to become a WAC, she practically lives to thumb her at authority when it interferes with what she wants. But her audacity is admirable at other times (and I know the value of a friend who can talk their way into or out of anything), and she grew on me. I related much more with Gordan's quieter, more introspective personality. 

A major facet of the story is pacifism vs serving in the war effort. Gordan lands squarely on one side and Dorie on the other, but in the end both learn some value of the other's stance. I think the author strikes an excellent balance between the two sides. Even within the pacifist side, there are different viewpoints expressed by various characters--a non-religious communist, an extremely religious dogmatic, a black man, a jokester. It's a group of men who are united by a job and a shared moral belief, but they're still all just men with different personalities and histories that shape the way they view life. 

Amy Lynn Green's "Things We Didn't Say"

Headstrong Johanna Berglund, a linguistics student at the University of Minnesota, has very definite plans for her future that do not include returning to her hometown. But the US Army wants her to work as a translator at a nearby camp for German POWs. Johanna arrives to find the once-sleepy town exploding with hostility, and they're not afraid to criticize those who work at the camp as well. When Johanna describes the trouble to her friend Peter Ito, a language instructor at a school for military intelligence officers, he encourages her to give the town that rejected her a second chance. As Johanna interacts with the men of the camp and censors their letters home, she begins to see the prisoners in a more sympathetic light. But advocating for better treatment makes her enemies in the community, especially when charismatic German spokesman Stefan Werner begins to show interest in Johanna and her work. The longer Johanna wages her home-front battle, the more the lines between compassion and treason become blurred.

I highly enjoyed the premise of the book (explained in the first chapter) that this is a compilation of letters and telegrams and other documents that Johanna has requisitioned and put together for her defense. It shows her extremely analytical and practical personality right from the outset, and her mildly abrasive (but not uncompassionate) approach to dealing with people. There are a few other documents included, such as documents for the prosecution, some of the censored mail going to and from Germany, and some articles and letters written later, but largely it's all documentation that Jo has compiled.

Given the epistolary nature of the book, the title is perfect; there are many things that Jo doesn't actively write, but much can be read between the lines. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed or really like that the motives of the villain aren't clear-cut and perfectly explained; I'm pretty sure I understand why the villain targets Jo, based on what was said/written and what wasn't, but it's definitely a case where the reader must draw their own conclusions. Much like life.

Besides some clever sarcastic wit and rich historical details, the story is also a thought-provoking one. Jo is trying to show her hometown that the enemy soldiers in their midst are people just like themselves, yet herself is learning to love and forgive her neighbors. Peter, victim of prejudice, is convicted by the prejudice he has meted out in return. I thought Pastor Sorenson was one of the most convicting characters in the book, as he acknowledges his struggle to love his enemy--the very men who may have killed his son--and though the feelings of love and forgiveness aren't there, he pushes forward in obedience to God's word anyway. And those are just a few of the lives changed in the book.

Definitely well worth the read! I look forward to whatever Amy Green has next!

Thank you Bethany House and NetGalley for the complimentary e-book; I was not required to write a positive review, and all opinions are my own.